[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6048-H6049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      UPHOLD THE STIMSON DOCTRINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ferguson). The Chair recognizes the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I am concerned that the President of the 
United States is engaged in a massive campaign of deception that 
threatens to upend U.S. policy towards Crimea, shake confidence in U.S. 
global leadership, and override the stated will of the United States 
Congress.
  This dangerous precedent set in Crimea cannot be overstated. Putin's 
forcible and illegal annexation of Crimea, the first forcible seizure 
of territory in Europe since World War II, undermines Ukrainian 
sovereignty and threatens the stability of European borders.
  Acquiescence on the part of the United States threatens the security 
of sovereign nations. Who is next? Moldova? Georgia? The Baltic States?
  It is the longstanding policy of the United States not to recognize 
territorial changes effected by force, as dictated by the Stimson 
Doctrine established in 1932 by then Republican Secretary of State 
Henry Stimson.
  We upheld that doctrine with the issuance of the Welles Declaration 
in 1940, which stated emphatically that the United States would not 
recognize the illegal annexation of the Baltic States by then the 
Soviet Union. That policy remained in effect for 50 long years.
  For more than 50 years, we stood by the Baltic Republics of Estonia, 
Lithuania, and Latvia, sometimes in the face of ridicule. Today, they 
are independent sovereign states and good members of NATO. The 
collective wisdom of the previous and current administrations, 
Congress, our European allies, and the American public is that similar 
principles must be adopted with respect to Crimea.
  Crimea was Putin's original violation in the Ukraine, and we have 
limited credibility objecting to Russia's subsequent invasion of the 
Luhansk and Donetsk if we do not stand firm with respect to Crimea.
  The Obama administration established a nonrecognition policy toward 
Russian sovereignty over Crimea and levied sanctions against 
individuals and entities enabling Russia's occupation. Our allies in 
Europe stood with us shoulder to shoulder in emphasizing and enforcing 
those sanctions.
  Congress codified President Obama's Crimea sanctions and has 
repeatedly used the power of the purse to prohibit the use of 
government funds for any action that would recognize the de jure or de 
facto illegal annexation of Crimea.

  And in the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, 
Congress reiterated its support for the Stimson Doctrine and its 
application to the illegal invasions by Russia and occupations of 
Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, Crimea, and eastern Ukraine, and 
the Transnistria region of Moldova. Even the State Department for the 
current administration has reiterated our nonrecognition policy and 
enforced Crimea sanctions.
  But through all of this, one man stands alone atop his bully pulpit 
with opaque intentions and armed with an arsenal of half-truths and 
downright lies. That person is the President of the United States, 
Donald Trump.
  I do not particularly care that Donald Trump personally admires 
Vladimir Putin. Everyone needs a role model. However, President Trump's 
willful ignorance of the crisis in the Ukraine has had him repeat 
propaganda and support policies that are so foreign that they would 
make Mr. Putin very happy.
  It was candidate Trump who said both ``Crimea has been taken'' and 
Putin is ``not going into Ukraine.'' I will not attempt to untangle the 
contradictions therein. I trust President Trump has had time to study 
and understand why his comments betrayed a shockingly tenuous grasp of 
U.S. foreign policy and our increasingly dangerous geopolitical 
climate.
  As Commander in Chief, the President has since had time to learn more 
about the situation in the Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Unfortunately, 
he has learned all the wrong lessons and has adopted a confrontational 
approach to current U.S. policy regarding Crimea.
  In justifying his position, the President has repeated several myths, 
some of which were no doubt originated by the Kremlin's own propaganda 
machine.
  Myth number one: The people of Crimea have said they preferred 
Russia--only in a referendum in an occupied Crimea with Russian troops 
all over the state. No referendum has validity at the end of a barrel 
of a gun.

[[Page H6049]]

  Myth number two: The demographics of Crimea demand they be part of 
Russia because most of them speak Russian. I am sure Russian speaking 
populations in the Baltic Republics revolt at that kind of notion. And 
the claim also erases history because Crimean Tatars were forcibly 
removed from Crimea by the dictator Stalin.
  This is the President's most insidious myth, the third one; 
recognizing Crimea could help improve relations with Russia.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman's time is expired.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. I don't think so. Russia has a much more extensive 
agenda.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman's time is expired.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. It is time for the United States to recognize----
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is no longer recognized.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. * * *.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President of the United States.

                          ____________________